Filing device

ABSTRACT

A support member for hanging files is removably attached to the top portion of a drawer and includes a unitary device provided with transverse elements insertable within a channel at the top of the drawer sidewalls and one or more saddles adapted to rest upon the top of the sidewall channel. Means are provided at the forward end of the member engageable with the rear of the drawer head to insure lateral stability while snap fitting means are included adjacent the rear of the member to preclude accidental vertical displacement thereof.

its Sttes tart Hensch et al.

....3l2/l84 Peebles..................................312/1842,92'5'108'6 2/1960 Stark I 3,396,731 8/1968 1 Primary Examiner-GeorgeE. Lowrance :AttomeyEmory L. Groff and Emory L. Groff, Jr.

[73] Assignee: General Fireproofing Company,

ABSTRACT A support member for hanging files is removably attached to fthe top portion of a drawer and includes a unitary device pro- .-videdwith transverse elements insertable within a channel at [22] Filed: July29, 1970 [21] Appl. No.:

the top of the drawer sidewalls and one or more saddles adapted to restupon the top of the sidewall channel. Means are provided at the forwardend of the member engageable with the rear of the drawer head to insurelateral stability MOW w l 1: 3 3 RE 4 ,1 wma. H .14 6n. 7 MR 0 2 52U.S.Cl. 511 im. :i............... [5s Fieldoisearch...

while snap fitting means are included adjacent the rear of the member topreclude accidental vertical displacement thereof.

m F m D 5 G 0 1 S T m Mm wEm T M E rTm S C C R m W a 5 2 7 5 l 5 6 7 r il2 PATENTEDMAR 1 1912 3.647, 101

i* F/GZ. 57 2 7 265 z W D r i Hi v h 0 EARL J. Hgil s ga LEROY F. OGILVI E ATTORNEY FILING DEVICE This invention relates generally to filingdevices and more particularly to support means associated with drawersin order to permit the accommodation of hanging or suspended files.

Suspended files are well known in the art and include a file folder orother paper-containing member which is provided with a transverse bar orthe like support at the top thereof such that the file may be verticallydisposed within an open top receptacle such as a desk or file cabinetdrawer in a suspended manner by resting the terminal portions of thesupport upon the top edges of the drawer sidewalls.

In the majority of instances, production models of cabinet or deskdrawers are produced with side walls having a vertical height which issubstantially less than the vertical height of the drawer head or thedrawer opening within the enclosure so that, without any modification,it is impractical, if not impossible, to suspend standard letter orlegal size hanging files within the drawer. By the present arrangement,a hanging file support member is provided which is adapted to be readilyattached to the top of the sidewalls of existing standard drawers sothat an elevated top rail is offered upon which the transverse bar ofstandard hanging files may be supported. A noteworthy aspect of thepresent device is the ease with which is may be attached and removedfrom a drawer construction without the use of any separate fasteningmembers or the necessity of utilizing tools while, at the same time, apositive and rigid attachment of the device is achieved.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is toprovide an improved filing device including a pair of support membersadapted to be readily attached to existing file drawers without the useof any separate fasteners.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hanging filesupport member including saddle and flange means for engagement with thetop portion of a drawer sidewall and additional integral fastening meansengaging the rear of the drawer head for insuring vertical stability.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedhanging file support member adapted to be snap fitted upon a compressorchannel formed in the top of a drawer sidewall and which includesadditional stabilizing means engaging the rear of the drawer head.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consistsin the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the filing device of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the filing device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken along the line 4-4of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the hanging file supportmember of the present invention as it appears when removed from adrawer.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIG. 1, the presentinvention will be seen to comprise means for adapting any suitable opentop receptacle, such as the drawer D, for the reception of one or morehanging files F. The specific construction of the files F is notcritical to the present invention inasmuch as such files are well knownin the art and most of these files will rely upon a top file bar B forsupporting the file by means of its terminal portions which are adaptedto rest upon the top of the drawer sidewalls 1. In the case of the usualproduction model of file cabinet or desk drawers, the vertical height ofthe sidewalls l is substantially less than the overall height of thedrawer head 2, and accordingly, additional means must be incorporated inorder to adapt the drawer D to the use of the standard size hangingfiles F. The present invention proposes the adaptation of the drawer Dby means of a pair of hanging file support members generally designated3, one of which is shown most clearly in FIG. 5 of the drawings. It willbe understood that the description of one of the support members 3 willsuffice to describe both the lefthand and righthand support members,inasmuch as the two members are merely of reverse construction. Thedrawer or other open top receptacle will usually include a bottom 4 andrear wall 5 which, together with the drawer head 2, completes the basicconstruction of the drawer, it being apparent to those skilled in theart that the top wall 6 of the usual drawer sidewall is at a levelsubstantially below the top 7 of the conventional drawer head.

By the application of the present support members 3, each. of whichincludes a top rail 8, it will be seen that a supporting surface is thusprovided at a point substantially elevated above the top wall 6 of aconventional drawer sidewall but which is slightly below the drawer headtop 7 so that conventional hanging files F may be utilized with thecommon type of drawer D.

Each of the hanging file support members 3 includes a longitudinallyextending main body 9 which comprises the majority of the verticalextent of the support member and which is joined to an upper body 10 bymeans of an offset section 11 which is arranged to dispose the upperbody 10 in a vertical plane slightly inwardly of the vertical plane ofthe main body 9. The lower portion of the main body 9 terminates in atransverse foot 12 projecting away from the outside face 13 of the mainbody 9.

The present hanging file support member 3 utilizes the conventionalconstruction associated with many of the presentday file drawers for itsattachment to the sidewalls thereof.

The top wall 6 of the drawer side wall actually forms a part of the filedrawer compressor channel 13 found on many of the existing file drawers.This channel is further defined by means of the channel sidewall 14 anda channel bottom wall 15, while the downwardly extending top flange l6completes the structure comprising the compressor channel.

From an examination of FIGS. 3 and 4, it will be seen that thetransverse foot 12 of the support member is adapted to be disposedwithin the compressor channel 13 with its lower surface resting upon thechannel bottom wall 15. Lateral stability is imparted to the majorportion of the support member by means of one or more saddles l7projecting from the outside face 13 and each of which includes ahorizontal plate 18 and a downwardly extending vertical plate 19.Preferably, the distal portion of the vertical plate 19 terminates in anoutwardly bent edge 20.

From the foregoing description of the support member, it will be seenthat means are provided to insure adequate support along the entireaxial extent of the member, which means also assist in insuring againstlateral displacement of the support member. Additional means areprovided adjacent both the rear edge 22 and the front edge 21 to preventboth vertical displacement of the support member as well as to provideadditional lateral stability.

As will be seen more clearly in FIG. 5, at a point adjacent thetransverse foot 12 a longitudinal flange 23 extends forwardly of thefront edge 21 and is disposed in an offset manner in a plane extendingparallel to and beyond the outside face 13 of the main body 9. Theterminal portion of the offset longitudinal flange 23 includes atransverse end flange 24, the outer edge of which terminates inapproximately the same plane as the outer edge of the transverse foot 12for reasons which will become apparent immediately hereinafter.

During installation of the support member 3, the transverse end flange24 is initially lowered into the interior of the drawer D and into theforwardmost area of the compressor channel 13. It will follow that thevertical height of the transverse end flange 24 cannot be greater thanthe distance between the bottom edge 16a of the top flange 16 and thetop surface of the channel bottom wall 15. The rear face 25 of thedrawer head 2 includes a vertically extending head flange 26 projectingoutwardly towards the rear of the drawer and which is disposed within avertical plane substantially corresponding to the vertical plane of theinner surface of the drawer sidewalls 1. The upper body of each of thehanging tile support members 3 projects well forwardly of the front edge21 and includes an upper tang 27 and a lower offset tab 28 which isdisposed in a plane parallel to and outside of the upper body 10. Thespace between the two planes of the tang 27 and offset tab 28 serves topermit insertion of the drawer head flange 26 therebetween immediatelyfollowing insertion of the transverse end flange 24 into the compressorchannel of the drawer side wall. It will be understood that theengagement of the head flange 26 by means of the tang and offset tabwill occur simultaneously with the lowering of the rear portion of thesupport member and immediately prior to the flnal movement of thesupport member at which time the saddles 17 will straddle the channeltop wall 6 and sidewall 14.

Alternatively, in the case of a drawer which is not provided with theillustrated head flanges 26, it will be apparent that other mating meansmay be included to laterally stabilize the upper portion of the supportmember. For example, the offset tab may be dispensed with and a verticalslot formed through the rear face ofthe head to accommodate the tang 27.

In order to positively retain the rear portion of the support member inits installed condition, an extrusion 29 is struck outwardly from themain body 9 at a point adjacent the rear edge 22 thereof. This extrusionincludes a substantially horizontal top edge 30 which is positioned suchthat when the support member is installed as in FIG. 4, the top edge 30will be seen to tightly engage the bottom edge 16a of the compressorchannel top flange 16. The rearmost portion of the upper body 10preferably includes a transverse stop flange 31 which projects inwardlyand obviously will preclude accidental movement of any hanging files Fpast this point during use of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A support member for removable attachment to a filing drawer havingsidewalls and a drawer head, including, a longitudinal body extendingsubstantially the length of said sidewall, means adjacent the bottom ofsaid member engaging the interior of said sidewall adjacent the topthereof, saddle means projecting outwardly from said body and overlyingthe top of said side wall, a front edge on said body, means on said bodyextending forwardly of said front edge and adapted to engage anchormeans on the rear of said drawer head whereby, said support member isstabilized against both lateral and vertical displacement.

2. A support member according to claim 1 wherein, said body is a unitaryelement.

3. A support member according to claim 1 wherein, said sidewall includesan inwardly facing channel adjacent the top thereof and said meansadjacent the bottom of said member includes an outwardly facingtransverse foot.

4. A support member according to claim 3 wherein, said foot extendssubstantially the length of said member body.

5. A support member according to claim 3 wherein, said saddle means isdisposed above said foot and includes a horizontal plate having avertical plate depending from the outer end thereof.

6. A support member according to claim 5 including, a pair of saidsaddle means spaced inwardly from the front and rear edges of said body.

7. A support member according to claim 3 wherein, said forwardlyextending means includes a pair of laterally offset elements engagingsaid drawer head anchor means.

8. A support member according to claim 7 wherein, said anchor meanscomprises a vertical flange rearwardly projecting from said drawer head.

9. A support member according to claim 3 including, an extrusionprojecting outwardly from said body and adapted to engage the interiorof said channel when said foot is positioned within said channel.

10. A support member according to claim 3 Including, a

transverse flange projecting from said front edge and extending intosaid channel when said foot is positioned within said channel.

1. A support member for removable attachment to a filing drawer havingsidewalls and a drawer head, including, a longitudinal body extendingsubstantially the length of said sidewall, means adjacent the bottom ofsaid member engaging the interior of said sidewall adjacent the topthereof, saddle means projecting outwardly from said body and overlyingthe top of said side wall, a front edge on said bOdy, means on said bodyextending forwardly of said front edge and adapted to engage anchormeans on the rear of said drawer head whereby, said support member isstabilized against both lateral and vertical displacement.
 2. A supportmember according to claim 1 wherein, said body is a unitary element. 3.A support member according to claim 1 wherein, said sidewall includes aninwardly facing channel adjacent the top thereof and said means adjacentthe bottom of said member includes an outwardly facing transverse foot.4. A support member according to claim 3 wherein, said foot extendssubstantially the length of said member body.
 5. A support memberaccording to claim 3 wherein, said saddle means is disposed above saidfoot and includes a horizontal plate having a vertical plate dependingfrom the outer end thereof.
 6. A support member according to claim 5including, a pair of said saddle means spaced inwardly from the frontand rear edges of said body.
 7. A support member according to claim 3wherein, said forwardly extending means includes a pair of laterallyoffset elements engaging said drawer head anchor means.
 8. A supportmember according to claim 7 wherein, said anchor means comprises avertical flange rearwardly projecting from said drawer head.
 9. Asupport member according to claim 3 including, an extrusion projectingoutwardly from said body and adapted to engage the interior of saidchannel when said foot is positioned within said channel.
 10. A supportmember according to claim 3 including, a transverse flange projectingfrom said front edge and extending into said channel when said foot ispositioned within said channel.